The Darkness Returns
by Bren Tenkage
Summary: Long Ago Princess Celestia sealed away a great evil, that evil has returned and threatens to corrupt and destroy all of Equestria...will it succeed?


AN: Alright I admit it, I'm a Brony, I love My Little Pony Friendship is magic, and I always wanted to do this kind of story. To my loyal readers, go ahead and laugh at me, it's alright. Anyway I should point out that Continuity wise, I would say this takes place after the Discord freeing himself and then getting resealed. So yeah enjoy.

It was a late evening at Canterlot, Princess Celestia was in bed, moaning in her sleep, tossing and turning. It was obvious she was having a nightmare.

Inside her dreams she was remembering the day she had to fight her sister, the day she became Nightmare Moon.

"Sister, please reconsider, I don't wish to fight you" Celestia pleaded, her magic charging from her horn, tears forming in her eyes but the former Princess Luna just laughed, "But I wish to fight you sister, I want to cover the world in my darkness!"

Celestia began to cry and could see behind Luna a another pony, only shrouded in darkness, the pony had red eyes that could be seen from the darkness and she could hear it laugh in a demented tone

Celestia woke from her slumber, panting

"The nightmares just keep coming…." She muttered, and she laid back on her bed, "Is this a sign of its return?" She asked herself

The scene cuts to Ponyville, to be more precise the Ponyville Schoolhouse, where the resident school teacher Cheerilee was talking to the small filly students

"So class today I brought in a special speaker to talk to you about some of the special things he found on his travels, please give a warm welcome to Bren T. Hunter" She said and with that a brown earth pony walked in, on his back was a large saddle, presumably filled with all sorts of stuff to talk about, he wore a pair of goggles on his forehead, and pretty much seemed like your average stallion from Ponyville, except he had a-

"Blank Flank!"

The filly Diamond Tiara spoke up and everyone looked at Bren's flank, as she said, no Cutie Mark on Bren

Some of the class members began to laugh at Bren but he just stood there, silent.

Cheerilee spoke up, "Class now that's not polite" she said trying to calm the class down but Bren raised his right hoof saying, "Its ok, not the first class to mock me, yes I do not have a cutie mark, but I do what I love so who needs it"

The class was silent from that comment, a pony that doesn't care about Cutie Marks?

One small filly raised her hoof, it was Apple Bloom and she asked, "What is it that you do?"

"Good question" Bren said opening his pack and pulling out some strange and old objects

"I'm what you call a treasure hunter, I go into old caves, ruins, and so on finding old works of art, tools, and I was even lucky to find an artifact" Bren explained

Some of the fillies were amazed by some of the old spoons, daggers, and other odd shapes and metals

"What's an Artifact?" This question came from Snips

"I think it's a fact about art" His friend Snails said

"Not quite, an Artifact is an old magical item, you see according to my research, before Equestia was united, some Unicorns made magical tools for everyday life, sometimes they would trade them to the other pony nations for land, food, or power" Bren explained and he held up an old metal tea cup

"This is the artifact I was lucky to find" Bren said proudly

"But it only looks like an old tea cup" Diamond Tiara said, not impressed by the beat up metal

"I thought so too, until I looked inside" He said pulling out a cup and then he poured the Tea cup and out came some hot chocolate, he then took out another cup and began to pour out into that cup some water, and finally in a third cup he brought he poured some Apple Juice

"You see this tea cup allows the user to pour any drinkable liquid he or she wants, a very handy tool. Plus as far as I can tell it has unlimited uses" Bren said, a lot of the class were really impressed

One random filly girl spoke up and asked, "Where do the drinks come from?"

Bren looked at the cup and said, "I really don't know" he then began to pour himself some more apple juice to drink.

Over on Apple Acres Big Macintosh poured himself some fresh apple juice and was about to drink it when he saw the liquid disappear before his very eyes

"Well that was strange" He said pouring himself more

Back at the school Sweetie Bell then spoke up, "Not to be rude but why don't you have a Cutie Mark"

Before Cheerilee could speak up Bren spoke

"Not the first time I was asked, well to be honest I don't know why, I enjoy hunting for treasure, I'm a talented explorer, maybe I have an even bigger talent than that, who knows, but hey it's not hurting me. I also notice you don't have a cutie mark either" Bren said smirking

Sweetie Bell looked down and Bren trotted to her and then said, "Don't worry about it, even if you don't have one you are still you" He said and Sweetie Bell began to smile a bit

Bren stepped back to the front and then spoke up more, "Now class I should point out that I don't have unlimited time to talk, so if you wish to see me again and see more of my treasures or hear some stories, go to the edge of the Everfree forest, I live deep within it, so you need a guide, but do tell your parents where you are going, last thing I need on my mind is a lost filly" Bren said but then Diamond Tiara spoke up again

"Wait you are a wild pony? You expect high class like me to go into a forest to see some dusty spoons?" She asked

Bren rolled his eyes, it was obvious his patients was wearing thin thanks to her

"Yes I am a wild Pony, my family had always been nomadic ponies, not staying from place to place, now I would rather not get into a discussion of ranking or class, because while I'm sure you are important, I can bet a filly without a cutie mark can outshine even you" Bren said with a smirk, the class began to laugh and Diamond began to blush and get flustered

The class bell rang and Cheerilee thanked Bren for the discussion

When Bren stepped out he was stopped by the three Cutie Mark Crusaders

"That was real cool how you stood up to Diamond Tiara" Apple Bloom said to Bren and Bren smiled at the young filly

"Thanks, don't worry about her, mares and colts like her are never truly happy" Bren said trotting in the direction of the Market Place

"How do you know that?" Scootaloo asked

"Money and power doesn't always make anypony truly happy, it can only create false happiness" Bren said going into his pack and pulling out a book, he turned a few pages and turned to page with a picture of a crying King Colt

"Old King Colt may have had all the money in a faraway land, but he got the money by taxing his people to the point where they all left. He had all the money in his kingdom but he had no one to share it with, or talk to, or even rule over" Bren explained, "I could show you more examples but I think you get the point"

"I think we do, what about my sister Rarity, she is obsessed with gems" Sweetie Bell asked

"Wait you are sisters with her? I get some explorer gear from her sometimes. I heard she also helped defeat Nightmare moon many months ago, as well as Discord when he broke free…being attack by my own books wasn't fun that time, I wonder how he broke free in the first place" Bren said to himself, the three fillies looked at each other and gulped, not wanting to mention it was their fault in the first place.

"But back with your sister, it's obvious she has friends, and she isn't greedy, she just uses gems to make dresses, good ones too, I would never think to put gems on dresses but hey that's not my talent" Bren said chuckling

He went to a nearby stall and saw they were selling rope

"Perfect" He said laying down some bits and taking a roll and putting it in his pack

"So what do you girls like to do in your spare time?" Bren asked, suddenly as if they prepared they got into a formation and said, "We are, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" they almost looked like a super hero team, if the team were fillies, and didn't have costumes

Bren didn't know what to say, he heard rumors about three fillies that seemed to cause damage trying to find their cutie marks

"Uh, so what do you do?" Bren asked, he was almost afraid

"We do everything, and soon we will find out Cutie marks" Scootaloo said

"So far we haven't had much luck" Sweetie Bell said

Bren face hooved, the worst part was that he was like that as a young colt

"Ok look, while I understand where you are coming from, that is not the way to do things, just do what you love and soon you will get your cutie mark, it just takes time" Bren said trying to reason with them

Apple Bloom pointed to his flank

"But you don't have a cutie mark, why aren't you trying to find it?" She asked

"Hey, maybe I'm a late bloomer, I'm sure any apple farmer can mention that you can't rush the perfect apple" He said

"Apple Jack tells me that all the time" Apple Bloom said and Bren smiled, but then he heard something, wing flaps, he turned behind him and saw Princess Celestia on her chariot, she seemed worried as they landed in the market place, ponies around them were speaking to one another, wondering why she was here

"I need help from any ponies who are well read in legends, know how to explore ruins and so on" Celestia spoke, she seemed extremely tense, like she didn't get much sleep

Bren trotted over

"Err I know a few legends and I'm a treasure hunter" He said, he never spoke to the Princess before

Celestia looked him over and said, "Good enough, get in" with those words the Chariot seemed to grow to allow Bren room, he sat behind her and wondered to himself why Celestia needs help with legends

Bren was quiet through the trip, along the way to her castle, they had picked up Twilight Sparkle, the pony who ran the Library, Bren knew her only a little, and that was to check out books on caves and ruins, two more ponies who claim to be book worms and judging by the book based Cutie Marks made sense.

They landed at the Castle and hopped out, Celestia leading them to the throne room where more ponies were waiting for them, Bren assumed they were smart ponies from Canterlot and other areas. He also noticed the five other wielders of Harmony there, perhaps they were summoned by Luna or some other pony.

"I'm sorry I had to bring you here on short notice" Celestia said, she shook her head a bit, almost as if to wake herself up.

"Now I know you have a lot of questions but first allow me to explain what is going on, first off, I should assume most of you know the story of how Equestria was formed" Celestia said and everyone nodded their heads but then Twilight spoke up

"I do, but I realized something, when Discord escaped a while back you told me and my friends that he ruled over Equestria and you and your sister had to stop him" She said and Bren cocked an eyebrow, he didn't know about that

"I did say that, and it did happen, you see it happened after the forming of Equestria, 200 years after it was created, me and my sister ruled justly and peace and harmony ruled the land, but little did me and my sister know that harmony would be shattered" She said…she seemed sadden to speak this story but then continued, the air was cold as she spoke, she used her right wing to point to some stained glass pictures

"When Equestria was formed all ponies were happy, the land was fertile the weather perfect, it was paradise" She explained showing the picture of a happy kingdom

"But then darkness came, a young earth pony found a mystic chest which housed the spirits of everything against harmony, Discord was one of them" Celestia explained pointing to the picture of a Brown pony looking at a beautiful chest

"One spirit made a deal with him, granting him powers to rival my sister and me, and in exchange he unlocked the chest. But he was then corrupted, changing from an Earth Pony into an Alicorn like me, and he became a new dark spirit, the spirit of hatred." She pointed at a picture of the alicorn, his body was black, his wings were white, and his eyes red.

"He allowed spirits like Discord to run rampant and he even corrupted my sister, turning her frustration and jealousy into that of Nightmare moon. Thankfully this was after we sealed Discord in stone, using five elements of harmony" she said showing the scene of Discord being sealed in stone

"Using my sister's powers Hatred created 5 new elements, ones to counter the ones I had, ones that were corrupt copies" She explained, looking like she was about to cry

"So how did you beat him?" One pony asked

"I sealed him away, my sister tried to stop me but I had no choice but to seal her into the moon, Hatred was sealed into a ruby and sealed away deep below the earth. His elements now not fueled by his power turned to stone and I sealed them in 5 different places as well" Celestia explained," But I fear he may return soon"

"So why did you need us?" Bren asked

"I need ponies who are able to find the location of the elements or the gem itself, I hate to admit it but the locations escape me, I only know that I would have put them into places that were important at the time" Celestia said sighing, "And thank you for helping me"

All the ponies bowed their heads and Twilight said, "Of course Princess Celestia, it is an honor to help"

Her friends murmured in agreement and everyone trotted out, Bren took the time to go into the Royal Garden, figured he would at least look around the castle before leaving. He could see many statues of different ponies, important ones through history. One was that obscure wizard, what was his name? Oh yeah Star Swirl the Bearded. He also saw statues of Twilight and her friends, must have been made when they stopped Nightmare moon, everyone knew about them being heroes, they deserve that. He could see a statue of an Earth Pony, a Pegasus, and a Unicorn sighing a treaty, and even one pony who looked like he was dressed in medieval armor.

"Quite a collection"

Bren looked around and saw no one

"Tell me, wouldn't you like to be written in the annuals of history?"

Bren looked around again and spoke up, "Who are you?"

He went to a nearby pond and saw his reflection, but then his reflection spoke to him, the voice wasn't his, it was one of an almost a gentlecolt

"Why I am just another spirit, looking for a friend, is that too much to ask?"

"Uh look I've seen many things but I never seen a spirit use my reflection to talk to me" Bren said a little unnerved by this

"Oh come now, we are in a land of dragons, magic, river monsters, diamond dogs, and a strange pink pony who breaks the laws of physics, you honestly don't expect this?"

Bren shook his head, he was going crazy

"Just listen to me, perhaps we could make a deal, I know who you are, and I know you are a treasure hunter, and I even know that Princess Celestia wants your help to find the Ruby of Hatred, I can help"

Bren cocked an eyebrow, this was too good to be true

"Why should I believe you?" Bren asked and the water began to form into the figure of a pony to match Bren's, it spoke

"Why because I am a spirit, spirits help ponies, it's our job, do you know why the grass grows or the tree's lose their leaves, why its spirits who help. If it wasn't for us, Ponies would have a harder time in life"

The water pony walked around Bren

"I will help you, and in exchange you do me a favor, just a simple one, nothing too difficult like taking a scale from a dragon, or finding a gem at the bottom of a lake, a small one"

Bren turned around and gulped, "can I asked what is the favor" but then winced, he saw a flash in his head, like a lost memory, he saw the Alicorn Hatred's eyes staring into him and he shook his head"

"Perhaps I should sweeten the deal, perhaps I could explain your past, there is a reason for things, so what do you say…"

AN: So yeah didn't expect this to go on for so long, I tried my best to put this within the continuity of the actual show and I think I did a good job. But yeah the plot was one that came to me a while back, don't remember how but it stuck, I hope you enjoy this story….peace out my fellow Bronies


End file.
